Rim tool



J an. 9, 1923. v 1,441,377. e. v. SEARS.

RIM TOOL.

FILED MAY 21,1919. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a? du? Patente aan. e, i923.

, u ir fr ar GEORGE v. Smits, or SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

RIM TOOL.

Application'iled May 21,

' T0 whom .ta-may concern.'

Be itknovvnthatl, GEORGE' V. SEARS., citizen. ofthe United States,residing at Salt- LakefCi-ty, Vin the county of VSalt Lake and State vof Utah, have invented certain new and useful improvements in a RimTool, of

wvhichthe following is a specification.

This invention; relates to anfimproved rim Y.

contractor -,and..has as yone of its principal objects to provide adeViCeofthis character which will render simple the operation `offitting-a tire upon or removing a tire from the rim, therefor.

vThe invention has as a further ohject to 1 provide a kdevice Which mayhe easily applied yand. operated 'Without ,diiiiculty so that the.operation `of placing a tire upon or kremoving atire from a rim Vmay heaccomplished. in the shortest possible time. .j

And theinvention has as astill further object-to providea device whichWill be particularly characterized-'by simplicity and stability ofconstruction 4Other and incidental objects Will appear hereinafter. Inthe drawings:

,Figure lis a plan vievv showing themam ner in which` my improved deviceis applied to'lfa rim, the portion of the vrim appearing beingvconventionally illustrated, y Figure 2 is a sectional vieW taken on theFigure Slis` a sectional view vtaken on the lineY 3-4-3 of Figure 1,

f lFigure 4 is a detail perspective vienT of the coupling plateemployed, and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation showing aslight modiication of theinvention.

In `carrying the invention into eect, ll

employ coacting arms 10 and 11 respectively.

Thear1n1110is formedvvith alaterall-y curved inner end portion whichterminates in a fork 12 Whilefthe inner `end portion of the arm 1:1 isreduced somewhat and is formed with^af-rackf13- Fitting freely betweenthe arms .of the forlr12 is a coupling plate 11, shown indetailrinFigure 4. At one side. this plate .is Yprovidedvvith aifiange 15 and atits opposite side lWith spaced lflanges 16 loetween 'which' projects alateral lug 17. The

rack 13 of the arm 11 is slidaloly received between'the ianges 15 and 16ofthe plate and journaled through the arms of the fork 1919. Serial N0.298,609.

12 ,and through the lugl` of the plate headed shaft. 18 pivotallyconnecting the plate lwith the arm 10. Thus, aswill he seen,`

the plate will support the arm 11 torock with respect to the arm 10While, at the same time, the arm 11 may shift longitudinally upon theplate. Seating yupon the lug 17 'of the platebetween the arms of thefork 12 is a pinion 19 iixed to the shaft 18 and rooacting with the rack13 of the arm 411. At'its upper end ftheshaft carries afhandle 20,suitably connected thereto so that, as Will he clear, the handle mayheroperated for shifting the arm 11 longitudinally WithV respect to thearm 10.

`Formed on the arm 10 at its inner edge is an inwardly directedextension 21 ar-4 vranged adjacent Athe free ,end of said` arm andformedin this extension is a longitudinal/slot k22. .Slidahly engagingin this :slot

is a headed pin 23 to tlielupper end of Which is connectedalongitudinally curved rack'har 24. Adjacent its free end, the arm 11 isformed atits'outer edge With an `outwardly directed `lateral extension25. Formed on the outer lend ofy this extension is a keeper 26 ,engagingover the free end .of the rack har 2 4: extendingv through the extensionat a point opposite the keeper isfa headed shaft 27, Journaled upon thisshaft is a handlej28 provided at its inner end, asparticularly shown`riny Fig. 2, With .a `laterally directed head 29 receivingthe shaft`therethrough and upon the inner lend of which is formed apinion 30coacting with the rack har y2&1'. rlhus, this handle `may be operatedfor swinging the ,arms 10 and 11 toivardlor awaykfromzeach other randpivoted upon .the

arm 11 to ,coact .with .the pinion ,is a spring pressed paWl 30 forlocking the arms against spreading. 1

Depending from the outer ends of the arms 10 and 11 are fiXed jaWs ,31Yand confronting lthese jaivs'are movable javvsy 32 coacting With thefixed jaws toiform rim clamps at the youter ends ofthe arms. The

jaws 32are, as particularly shown in Fig ure 42, providedwith laterallycurved inner end portions 38 resting against the upper sides of the armsfor Vsustaining these jaws at `theirfinner ends with respect to the,arms. Formed in the anglebetween the `arms and the jaws 3l are spacedbracing webs 34 for the jaws and formed on the 32 in the angle betweenthe inner and outer end portions of the jaws are bosses-35- Slidablethrough these bosses as well as through the outer ends of thearmsbetween the webs 34 thereof are pins 36 upon the upper ends which arepivotally mounted cam levers 3( coacting with the bosses. At their lowerends the pins are each provided with a series of spaced openings adaptedto selectively receive suitable fastening devices 38 securing the pinsin position. ccordingly, as" will be seen, the effective length of thepinsmay be readily varied, whilethe movable jaws will also thus beadjustably con-' nected with the arms. it their outer ends the jaws 3land 32 are lformed with substantially tt-shaped rim engaging portions 39extending at substantially right angles to the axes of the arms 10 and1l. g

ln operating the device the jaws of the rim clamps at theouter ends ofthe arms 10 and l1 are engaged around the edge portions of a rimatopposite sides of the split therein sothat, as suggestedin Figure l, thedevice will lie within the plane thereof. F or con- A venience, l haveshown one end portionr of a rim at 40 and the other end portion of therim at 41. The handle 28 isfthen moved to spread the arms slightly sothat therim ends will be shifted out of engagement with each other. Thisdone, thehandle 20 is then operated for drawing the arm 1l radiallyinward with respect to the arm 10 and consequentlyshifting the rim end40 inwardly out of register with the rim end41. The handle 27 is thenagain swung but in a direction oppositeto the first movement thereof fordrawing the free ends of the arms toward eachother and moving the rimends into overlapping relation so that the rim will thus be contracted.`4Coincidentall y the pawl 30 will loclr the arms against spreading forthus holding the rim in its contracted position. Consequently, atire maybe readily re-I moved from the rim and, by reversing the operation justdescribed, a tire may, as easily, be placed upon the rim. Inthisconnection, it is to be observed that when the handle 20 is operated fordrawing the arm 11 radially inward, the pin 23 will ride within the slot22 so as to prevent binding between the rack bar 24 and guide 26.Furthermore, attention is also particularly directed, in thisconnection, .to the fact that when the rim is contracted the rim will beflexed'throughout its entire circumference and the strain willaccordingly be distributed throughout the circumferenceof the rim.Furthermore, the rim will be flexed without any side or lateral Astrainsuch aswould tend to distort the rim,

As will now be appreciated, it will be particularly necessary that therim clamps firmly engage the rim ends so that when the arms l() and l1are swung with respect to each other, the clamps will not slip along therim. Accordingly, I have provided the jaws of the clamps with thesubstantially Vrshaped rim engagingr portions 39. As shown inFigure 2,these rim engaging portions are adapted to embrace the side portions ofthe rim and, being straight, will, when the cam levers 37 are operatedto clamp the jaws in engagement with the rim, bind against the curvedysurfaces of said side portions so that, as will be seen, slipping ofthe clamps will be prevented. Furthermore, as will also be seen, thisbinding action between the jaws of the kclamps and the side portions ofthe rim will be materially increased when the arms 10 and ll are broughtunder stress flexing the run.

ln Figure 5 of the drawings have shown a slight modification of theinvention which, however, relates more particularly towthe constructionof the rim engaging clamps.

Referring now more particularly to' this g ure, it will be observed thatl have yshown the modified clamp in connection with the arm lOof thedevice. At its outer end the arm is formed with a fixed javi/42identical with the fixed jaw 3l of thepreferred construction.

movable jaws. 32 of preferred construction, with the exception that themovable j aw 43 is, in lieu of alaterally curved innerend portion,provided with a laterally directedpost 44 which is loosely receivedthrough the arm l0 and upon which is threaded a nut 45 coacting with thearm. Thus, asl will be seen, this nut may be adjusted for adjusting theinner end portion Aof the movable jaw with respect to the arm. Loosely`litted through the movable jaw and threaded through the outer end ofthearm is a pin 46 corresponding to the pins 39 of the preferred construetion andpivotally mounted upon the upper end of said pin is a cam lever47 identical with the cam levers 37. As will be seen, the pin Mounted tocoact with the `fixed jaw is a movable jaw 43 identical. with the 46 maybe rotated for varying the effective length thereof' so that thismodified form of clamp, consequently, provides a construction which maybe adjusted to fit rims materially varying in width. i

Having thus described Lthe invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. ln 'a rim tool, coacting pivotally connected arms, rim engaging meanscarriedby tl e free end portions of the arms, a rack bar slidablyconnected with one of the arms and extending transversely between thearhis, rack bar operating means mounted upon the other of said arms andcoacting with said racl bar for swinging the arms relative to each otherin the plane of the arms, and

shifting means for moving one of the arms vided with a fork. a couplingplate received Within the fork and slidably supporting the other of thearms normally extending through the fork, a shaft pivotally connectingsaid plate with the fork, a rack formed on the latter arm7 a inioncoacting with said rack lfor shifting t e latter arm radially Withrespect tothe irst arm, means for swinging the arms relative to eachother in the plane of said` arms, and rim engaging means ca r- 10 rieclby the outer end portions of the arms.

In testimony whereof I aiixmy signature.

GEORGE v. SEARS. [L s@

